MPA@UNC Blog

Thanks to the growing popularity of corporate social responsibility (CSR), businesses are putting more emphasis on making a difference in the world around them. A focus on good corporate citizenship improves conditions in local communities, but also ultimately yields higher returns as it forges deeper connections with customers who care about social good...

This year I spent July Fourth at an Italian restaurant—Romolo e Romo—in Ecuador. This is seemingly as un-American as a person could get on Independence Day, but it’s probably the most at home I’ve felt since I came here on June 25 for a service-learning trip. Surrounded by good friends and good food, it’s hard to feel like you don’t belong. And restaurant owners Guiseppe and Antonio—who emigrated from Italy to Ecuador as volunteers—embrace all as family...

Last year, it oversaw a budget of $2.9 trillion. Its 500 employees manage hundreds of agencies and commissions that employ another 4.3 million people. This makes it one of the largest organizations in Washington, DC, and, as part of the executive branch, it keeps an eye on the performance of federal agencies. It’s an office that reports directly to the president and administers the federal budget...

Waiting outside the Fulbright Ecuador building on our first day of orientation, Jeff Hughes, director of the UNC School of Government Environmental Finance Center and our leader on this adventure, looks up at a power line pole covered with tangled wires going in every direction. “I wonder how they tell what electricity goes where,” he said, setting the inquisitive tone for the trip...

Director, manager, administrator, and mayor are all titles given to leaders serving in the state and local government. In North Carolina, there is a disproportionately small number of women who hold these titles...